100922 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-birds-following-weather-trends/article_8e3ada86-4524-11ed-9698-e38a69b96b86.html 

062821 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/life-at-boomer-lake-some-historical-numbers-showing-up/article_4644b2e2-d856-11eb-9a56-3bf12018ba30.html 

040421 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/life-at-boomer-lake-time-to-get-birdbaths-shining-again/article_9075c072-93f0-11eb-8982-7b5010091e2b.html 

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Very limited as an Oklahoma breeding species even now, the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is located in diverse habitats.  Sometimes it is found in saline or fresh water, but is usually seen in quiet, tree lined river habitats.

This bird is not as nocturnal as could be considered, and can be quite active during daylight hours.

It roosts in trees like other herons, often hidden from view within foliage.  It can also be found on the ground in dense reeds or shrubs and will usually forage upon crabs, mussels, fish, crayfish, and other crustaceans.  They favor edges of ponds or streams while walking in the water at twilight or early morning.  They are dependent upon the tide in mudflats.

                                                   Adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
                                                               in breeding plumage
                                                      Estero Llano Grande NWR, 2017


Night-Herons usually nest in small colonies and groups, atypical of other herons.  They are generally near or over water.  Both parents will feed their young, usually via regurgitation or dropping food directly in the nest itself.  When the young are old enough to learn how to forage, this instruction is usually done at night.

These birds are thinner than the Black-crowned Night-Heron with a dark, thin bill.  Juveniles have small white spots, whereas the Black-crowned will have broad blurry streaks and larger white spots on the wing coverts.  The immature Yellow-crowned takes nearly three years to molt into full adult plumage.

                                             Second Summer Yellow-crowned Night-heron

                                                       Boomer Lake Park, Sept. 2016

                                                                     (Heron Cove)

Days of Their Lives

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                                     Snowy Egret

                                                         Double-crested Cormorants

                                                                Spotted Orbweaver

                                               2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                            Ditto

                                                                     Great Egret

                                                                 Clay-colored Sparrow

                                                                     Bewick's Wren

                                                                     Carolina Wren

                                                               Juvenile Eastern Phoebe

 

Red-spotted Purple

These are shots over the past several weeks, as there hasn't been a lot of migratory

movement.  Weather has a way of being a deterrent, but one also must be in the right

place at the right time.  It cooled down for a little while, long enough for a few more

ducks to come through the area, and temperatures are finally quite seasonable and 

pleasant.  May those people that had to endure Hurricane Matthew be all right and may

you recover from that ordeal as soon as possible.

As a general synopsis, our young Yellow-crowned Night-Heron stayed with us at

Heron Cove for the better part of September, and chose the best willow to rest in

during the day, the same one that the strongest Green Heron chicks were hatched in.

Both Boomer Lake and Boomer Creek hosted more different species of herons than

normally this year, including a strong possibility of the Little Blue Heron, as well.

Larger than normal woodpecker numbers stayed at the creek, and many of them

were hatched here, including one female adult red-shafted Northern Flicker as a parent.

  It is not known if there are any red-shafted offspring as a result of this uncommon union.

There were also good numbers of the Red-bellied Woodpecker young, and a few Red-

headed Woodpecker juveniles.  No Pileated Woodpecker young were observed.

The Clay-colored Sparrow spent about a week with us on Boomer Lake and there were at 

least two of them in our midst.  Good numbers of the Carolina Wren were seen over the

season, and Bewick's Wren is once again in our midst.

Sadly, butterfly numbers were down by half, but on the positive note, this was the first

year that I have noticed the Red-spotted Purple in the five years that I have been in 

Stillwater, and I only observed it on the Kameoka Trail at Boomer Creek.

Ambient water temperatures have risen two degrees F in the time that I have been in the

area.  If this continues to increase, birds and other animals are expected to remove 

themselves in a northeastern pattern.

  

Plenty of Heron Action to Delight You

                                               2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                           Ditto
                                         

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Top)
Green Heron (Bottom)  

                                                         Yellow-crowned Night Heron

                                                                          Ditto

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                                    Snowy Egrets

                                                               Adult Green Heron


09-17-19
0745-1249 hrs./62-80 degrees F/partly cloudy/8 mph SE winds/61% RH

The Yellow-crowned Night Heron is quite at home at Heron Cove, allowing for several shots, as
well as behavior observation.  When the sun hits a high range and seems to be in the bird's eyes, it no
longer wishes to be out in the open.  This most likely is due to its red eyes being sun sensitive.  At that point, it wishes to retire to a favorite tree where it sleeps until late afternoon.

For size perspectives, the photo with the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Green Heron is shown,
so one can get a rough idea on how large they are by sight.  Great Blue Heron is the largest heron.
The night-heron is medium sized, and Green Heron is small.

1030-1200 at Boomer Creek

This was my first time at the creek for a good week, and I observed and took several photos of this
wonderful Snowy Egret pair, who most likely spent breeding time siring young at the heronry.  This
Great Blue Heron had been watching me creep up to a natural blind the entire time in order to get closer to the snows, and never uttered a squawk, which would have made them go into high alert.

Luckily, I was between two young trees with a small opening between leaves in order to photograph
the snowies.

                                                          Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                            Double-crested Cormorants

                                                                      Gulf Fritillary


09-18-16
0755-1045 hrs./65-75 degrees/partly cloudy/8 mph SSW winds/94-63% RH

The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, a rare visitor to the area, is shown so much just to record
the possible changes to its transition from juvenile to adulthood.  It is unknown how long it intends
to be in the area.

The Double-crested Cormorants are returning to the area and should be juveniles for the most
part.  The adults will be coming in again from their breeding grounds, but it is possible that they might not stop at Boomer Lake on their return southbound.

A larger number of butterflies were observed, mostly the gulf fritillary and a few monarchs.  The monarchs should be migrating right about now.

                                                          Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                       Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                             Ditto

                                                                               Ditto


09-20-16

0740-0922 hrs./73-81 degrees F (feels like 89)/partly cloudy/7 mph S winds/80% RH with a
heat advisory for the day

Due to the extreme heat, my point of exploration was under the trees at Heron Cove to spend
time with the herons.

Less Birds, But Good Quality Ones at Boomer Lake

                                               2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                        Bird #2, 2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                       Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Flight

                                                           Female Red-Spotted Purple

                                                            Male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher


These photos were taken over the past several days.  It was quite surprising to see two
immature Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at The Southern Cove. (which I should perhaps
rename Heron Cove?)   These birds were not seen together, and are clearly two different birds.
There has been no eBird record of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons since June of 2012 on Boomer Lake, which would have made that sighting in 2012 an adult bird.  Since these birds are on their second summer, they could have been born at Teal Ridge, which has had adult Yellow-crowned Night-Herons every summer that I know about.

The Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly had been seen just off the Kameoka Trail near Boomer Creek, and they seem to be slightly more prevalent than usual in the tri-state area this year.  For the most part, our butterfly population appears to be on yet another yearly downward spiral, due to loss of habitat,
lack of native milkweed, and too many pesticides wafting through the air.

Our Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are being seen again, soon to be heading south.  They have been roosting together overnight, so chances are excellent that you'll see a good group of them at Boomer
Lake just before nightfall.  Last year, they were seen on the northernmost jetty just south of Goose
Island.  In previous years, they had a roost tree on the west side of the lake.

Also at dusk, you'll see more grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds at Boomer Lake, which are
nearly non-existent on the lake during the day.  During the day, there have been large numbers of
Mallards, and less than the usual numbers of Killdeer.

The Bar Gets Raised One Notch

                                                 Ross's Goose with Canada Goose Escort

                                                                     Ross's Goose

                                                                          Ditto

                                                 Blue-winged Teal Pair, Northern Reaches

                     
                                                                         Ditto
               

                                                          Great Egret, Breeding Plumage

                                                   First Year Male Brown-headed Cowbird
                                                          Practices Courting Techniques

                                                              Male Northern Shoveler

                                                              Red-shouldered Hawk

                                                                   Male Eastern Bluebird

                                                              Male Great-tailed Grackle

                                                             Female House Sparrow

                                                       Male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                                         Ditto

These Shots were taken over the past couple of days, and I had to keep dodging raindrops,
as I have been for several days now.  Even though, it has been a bit of a challenge from
time-to-time, I believe the shots may speak for themselves.  The little Ross's Goose arrived
beside the east side of Goose Island yesterday with a Canada Goose escort.  This little goose,
rarely seen on Boomer Lake, preened for about twenty minutes, then climbed up the hill to
the island, where I observed him eat and take a respite.  The other geese, even though nesting,
really paid him or her no mind.

I almost forgot.  I was at Teal Ridge Wetlands a few days ago, managing to get this shot of the
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, which is a bird never seen at Boomer Lake, at least not to my knowledge.

                                                One of Two Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

                                                  Second Yellow-crowned Night Herons

Note that this second bird is displaying a beautiful yellow plume.

I also visited Couch Park on Sunday, and found this beautiful little Field Sparrow.